Why Pakistani Northerners Aren't Happy To See Pakistani Tourists

[Sine Nomine]

I have a solution to this problem.

Government should form "community police" in these areas. They should be given authority to impose fines, and should be given means to take pictures of people breaking the rules and post them in case any disagreement occurs.

Why not just start a entry fee for everyone?

 

[Rafi]

I have a solution to this problem.

Government should form "community police" in these areas. They should be given authority to impose fines, and should be given means to take pictures of people breaking the rules and post them in case any disagreement occurs.

There is now tourist police in GB and this will hopefully take care of the idiots and morons.

One good thing is unemployment is down and the areas are getting development l.

 

[El Sidd]

What special cases

People have been resettled in Sindh after forced conversions or paid conversions from GB.

I have to be politically correct so please don't burden me and do a little research on your own.

 

[ProudPak]

I spend a lot of time in the mountains and people here are lovely and kind and generous. Southerners often go and take bad habits with them. These people are very reserved and do not like women wearing tights and showing butts. Often pakistani women are doing this now. Then the same women wonder why men stare at them. Well not their fault. People from the south are loud and brash and litter bugs

 

[PakSword]

Why not just start a entry fee for everyone?

That's also a good idea...

Charge Rs 100 per passenger per district at the toll gates, and invest this money into cleaning and development.. Fines should still be imposed on unruly visitors..

 

[Sine Nomine]

That's also a good idea...

Charge Rs 100 per passenger per district at the toll gates, and invest this money into cleaning and development.. Fines should still be imposed on unruly visitors..

1000 bahi,100 sai kiya hou ga.

 

[Old School]

Tourism always has adverse effects on local culture and ecology in anywhere in the world. This is an undeniable fact. If local population do not like it, leave them alone.

 

[Desert Fox]

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsa...highlands-arent-happy-to-see-pakistani-touris

Why Pakistanis In The Otherworldly Highlands Aren't Happy To See Pakistani Tourists
February 15, 20207:01 AM ET

DIAA HADID

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ABDUL SATTAR

An informal dump in far northern Pakistan where residents hurl medical and tourist trash. The trash is frequently incinerated, sending up plumes of foul-smelling smoke right near a glacial lake frequented by tourists.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
The residents of Murtazabad, a village in the highlands of Pakistan, are welcoming of strangers. On a recent day, they proffered passing visitors a yak meat porridge they'd made for a religious celebration. They indulgently smiled as a horde of Thai tourists raced into one of their orchards and posed with piles of red and yellow apples.

But some days, their patience wears thin.

And those days are happening more often as this once remote province becomes a wildly popular destination not for foreign tourists posing in their apple orchards but for their own brethren — Pakistanis who come from the plains below.

Men cook yak porridge in an enormous cauldron over a wood fire in their mosque in the village of Murtazabad. They prepared the dish for a religious festival and handed out portions on the street.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
"Most tourists are wonderful, but some are just so dirty. They come here to see our beautiful region, and they leave their trash behind," says Benazir Jamal, a 25-year-old gym teacher, who said her village organized a committee to clean up after tourists. "Not all fingers of the hand are the same," Jamal said, referring to Pakistanis visiting the area.

Pointy opinions about Pakistani tourists can be heard across the far northern territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, an otherworldly place of snow-capped peaks, glaciers, rivers and orchards. It spotlights the frictions between Pakistan's multiple ethnic and religious groups, and the challenges facing the country as it tries to lure in more visitors. Signs are pasted throughout residential areas forbidding photography and entrance to tourists. Other signs urge them, in English and Urdu, to pick up their trash.

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"The problem is basically, unfortunately, and I am sorry to say this, especially our Pakistani tourists. They have not right manners," says Aqeela Bano, who heads the Ciqam Project, which is a network of organizations run by women, including a carpentry workshop and a café and hotel.

Women work in a carpentry workshop run by the aid group Ciqam. The group trains and employs 25 women, in part because of a building boom in far northern Pakistan, triggered by a rush of domestic tourism. They make door frames, window frames and furniture.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
Tensions emerged after domestic tourists nearly outnumbered the territory's 1.5 million locals over the past two summers, according to Usman Ahmed, commissioner of the Gilgit division, one of the area's highest-ranking officials. There were no official figures for this past summer, but it was even busier, officials said.

"We were not ready for that," Ahmed says. He noted that a decade ago, just over 50,000 domestic tourists visited.

Tourists pose for photos on a medieval fort near the town of Karimabad in the highlands of Pakistan.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
Only one town in the territory has a sewage system, and so more visitors means more human waste washes into the tributaries that feed the Indus River, Pakistan's main water source. The area does not have regular trash collection, so the extra garbage tourists generated was dumped into the river or incinerated at an informal dump near a glacial lake –frequented by the same tourists. On a recent day, crows picked through smoldering trash that emitted foul fumes.

To accommodate tourists, there is a construction boom. Enormous hotels now loom over some villages. Concrete flophouses flash neon signs. Ahmed is worried, he says, because the construction industry is loosely regulated.

"We don't want to become a concrete jungle," he says.

Domestic tourists began pouring in about six years ago, Ahmed says. The sudden surge is owed to a convergence of factors: sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites in far-northern Pakistan was quelled by authorities, making the road safe for visitors. The road itself – a highway of hairpin turns – was improved, making it easier to drive up. And word spread of the area's beauty through word of mouth and social media, according to both tourists and officials.

The Attabad glacial lake, which is several miles long. Boat rides on the lake is a popular tourist attraction in far northern Pakistan.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
The tourists include Mohammad Afzal and his wife Nazira from the southern city of Larkana, who said they'd brought their extended family of 22 people for a week-long stay in the region. "We saw a video and were like, let's go!" Nazira says, as they passed around hot mugs of chai on a freezing day.

"We went to the China border, and the kids saw snow. They were so excited," she says.

A child waves to tourists from a minivan in a small town in far northern Pakistan.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
Nazira, like many Pakistani tourists interviewed, says she was horrified to hear that locals found them to be unclean.

"We throw our trash in the bin," she insists. But at the next table, another group of Pakistani tourists left their pizza boxes and plastic cups of tea behind on a table, ignoring the large trash can nearby.

Regardless of how the majority of Pakistani tourists behave, clearly there are problems. Some of the city's bazaars are pasted with signs pleading with tourists to use trash cans and not take photos. Residents said during the summer, visiting Pakistani men snapped photos of local women without their permission and shared them online.

Signs abound through heavily-visited tourist areas in far northern Pakistan urging tourists not to take photos, to clean up their trash and not to enter residential areas.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
"We didn't put [these warning signs] up when it was just foreign tourists," says Nazir Ali, who guards a mosque. "But when domestic tourists came, they misused the pictures. A lot of women weren't comfortable. They were scared, they don't know how the picture will be used."

Ali says the issue really emerged when residents found images of local women on social media with commentary that suggested they were not honorable. That's because the women in far northern Pakistan don't always cover their hair and they have a tradition of working in public as farmers, shopkeepers and shepherds and their girls play sports in public — a stark contrast to the far more conservative plains below and even to other communities in the mountains.

The patron of a tiny restaurant, Lal Shehzadi, 38, acknowledged cultural tensions with domestic tourists. She says some of them have asked if her husband was dead, and if not, why she worked, because it was so unusual in the plains.

As she served local delicacies like savory apricot soup, yak curry, salty tea and mutton pies, Shehzadi says she often retorted: "Why do you cover your women?"

Lal Shehzadi flattens out dough to make a mutton pie in her small restaurant in the town of Karimabad.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
Other residents noted the upside to domestic tourism, even as they were critical, like Bano of the Ciqam Project. Bano said the upswing in tourism has allowed the Ciqam network to employ 25 female carpenters to supply window frames, doors and wooden designs for new buildings.

Musician Zia Ul Karim, 25, says the tourists helped revive interest in folkloric music by requesting it to be performed at local shows.

"Melodies which are almost dying," he says, because the "lack of importance given to them by people." Speaking after a performance, he said sometimes it took a stranger to remind people of what they should hold dear.

In a territory once nearly entirely reliant on farming, Mubaraka, 13, listed the ways tourism has bettered the lives of residents in their poor, one-road village, where children ran around in flipflops in heavy-jacket weather. Tourists bought their farm produce. Shops sold more goods. There was work in the industry.

But domestic tourists also upset her, she said. She gestured to a meadow where goats graze, overlooking pointy, snowy peaks. A few weeks ago, she cleaned it up after tourists.

Officials said they were also trying to lure high-dollar foreign visitors – with some success, like the Thai tourists who tumbled into that apple orchard in Murtazabad. Piayooan Yuentiakul, 55, from Bangkok said Pakistan was a "top of the bucket list" among his friends because of the stunning red and yellow fall colors.

Thai tourists pose in piles of picked apples in an orchard in the village of Murtazabad.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
To attract more visitors from other Asian countries, authorities advertise the area's ancient Buddhist heritage. To lure adventure tourists, they host activities like a desert car rally, yak polo and the world's highest altitude bike race alongside climbing some of the world's tallest mountains.

Figures given by Ahmed, the commissioner, suggested a slow but steady climb of foreign tourists to Murtazabad, reaching just over 10,000 last year – a tiny proportion of the 1.2 million foreign tourists who arrived in Pakistan in total, according to the country's 2018 Travel & Tourism Economic Impact report.

Tourists loiter about the Khunjrab Pass – the icy, snowy border crossing between Pakistan and China.

Diaa Hadid/NPR
Foreign tourists say they are delighted by Pakistan, like German visitor Carsten Korfmacher. He'd been hiking on glaciers and trekking through base camps of some of the world's tallest mountains. The best part was "people are so friendly," he says. Twice, he said, he'd been invited to attend local weddings. "I wish people were so friendly in my country," he says.

Nothing though, could beat the enthusiasm of Daniel Porter, from Britain, who just finished a boat ride on a glacial lake. Smoothing back his dreadlocks, Porter said people kept inviting him to stay with them. "Everyone just smiles," he says. "Everyone wants to help you." Locals agree. As long as you pick up your own trash.

Additional reporting by Nazim Ullah Baig

Well, hey! At least its bringing in $$ right? @Indus Pakistan @OsmanAli98

Forget that most of these places have the lowest, if not, non-existent crime rates and all this tourism is importing in petty crime, lack of regard for local customs, etiquette, etc...

It's all about making money guys that's it. Nothing else matters but money (YAWN)

It is truly depressing to go up there. Whether it's people from KP or Punjab, the locals --- despite earning more than they ever have before --- have begun to dread the arrival of the hordes from the rest of Pakistan into GB.

People are also buying land at an unprecedented rate.

Lahoris seem to have the worst reputation (obviously this isn't a scientific statistic, just a perception.) Groups of young men (though sometimes older as well) on "boys trips" are the absolute worst. Many tease other tourists there and take pictures of women without their permission.

All of this behavior --- from littering to ogling to driving obnoxiously and generally being a nuisance --- is patently against the tenants of Islam, yet these same people become the warriors of Islam when it's convenient.

I have been to the Northern areas and some Pakistanis are so backward compared to the Northern areas these "big cities" people are apparently educated and modernised

I was staying in a hotel in Naran and late into the night some monkey decided to blast music and these monkeys were jumping up and down on the car, total embarrassment made worse by the fact that was was actually Indian music

actually I should not have complimented monkeys like that as even monkeys have sense

These are our "modernized", tiktok generation. They have absolutely nothing to do with religion or being religion, conservative and traditional. They are thoroughbred social media generation. They get their indoctrination from Bollywood and social media celebrities.

On the contrary, the people of the Northern Areas are what our liberals would call "backward", "uneducated", rural "trash" for being conservative and traditional.

Pakistani urbanites are increasingly very ignorant and arrogant despite their level of "education" and exposure to trashy Western Liberalism and its "Pop" culture.

Society has been inverted into thinking that trashy Liberalism and its offshoots means progress while traditional and conservatism means living in 7th century caves, meanwhile a caveman at least knew how to survive on his own, a modern urbanite Libtard cant even survive without his smartphone.

@OsmanAli98 @Indus Pakistan @Taimur Khurram @Itachi

I dont think so we are allowed to buy lands in GB or AJK. But I have heard that ppl of GB and AJK can buy land anywhere in Pakistan

Bro, this is Pakistan; people can get away with doing anything as long as their papa knows the right person and has the ca$h.

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

I have a solution to this problem.

Government should form "community police" in these areas. They should be given authority to impose fines, and should be given means to take pictures of people breaking the rules and post them in case any disagreement occurs.

Pakistan badly needs some kind of morality police to enforce public wellbeing and social norms. Number one target should be adolescent unemployed youth who hang around bothering females. We need heavy, public punishments for these people.

In this vein, we can study Iran or the pre-MBS KSA morality police.

 

[Pakistani Fighter]

In this vein, we can stud

Ready to bring wrath of Liberals especially Feminists?

 

[bananarepublic]

Well, hey! At least its bringing in $$ right? @Indus Pakistan @OsmanAli98

Forget that most of these places have the lowest, if not, non-existent crime rates and all this tourism is importing in petty crime, lack of regard for local customs, etiquette, etc...

It's all about making money guys that's it. Nothing else matters but money (YAWN)




These are our "modernized", tiktok generation. They have absolutely nothing to do with religion or being religion, conservative and traditional. They are thoroughbred social media generation. They get their indoctrination from Bollywood and social media celebrities.

On the contrary, the people of the Northern Areas are what our liberals would call "backward", "uneducated", rural "trash" for being conservative and traditional.

Pakistani urbanites are increasingly very ignorant and arrogant despite their level of "education" and exposure to trashy Western Liberalism and its "Pop" culture.

Society has been inverted into thinking that trashy Liberalism and its offshoots means progress while traditional and conservatism means living in 7th century caves, meanwhile a caveman at least knew how to survive on his own, a modern urbanite Libtard cant even survive without his smartphone.

@OsmanAli98 @Indus Pakistan @Taimur Khurram @Itachi


Bro, this is Pakistan; people can get away with doing anything as long as their papa knows the right person and has the ca$h.

You'd be surprised at how many people got "NOC" to buy land in GB, this caused many villages to create local councils to make the whole village sign agreement that they will not sell land to non-locals While lease of lands is allowed.
But still before such enforcement was made many sold their lands, some for sweet sweet cash others forced to because they needed to pay for hospitals or education.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Propaganda bit best be ignored.

Nope. It’s true. Seen the littering/trash personally as have friends and relatives of mine who have traveled north.

And the part about criticizing women for being independent and outgoing is exactly the kind of thing you hear some of our conservatives rant about.

 

[El Sidd]

Nope. It’s true. Seen the littering/trash personally as have friends and relatives of mine who have traveled north.

And the part about criticizing women for being independent and outgoing is exactly the kind of thing you hear some of our conservatives rant about.

There is nothing to suggest this littering is Southern Culture.

The mountainous region is only seeing after effects of human footprint of 220 million as previously neither infrastructure supported such scores of tourist nor the security situation.

 

[PakSword]

1000 bahi,100 sai kiya hou ga.

1000 will keep most of the poor population away. We don't have to stop common poor Pakistanis from visiting their own country.

Fines could start from Rs. 1,000 and could go to 10,000.

Rs. 1000 per incident of throwing garbage not in the bins, 5000 for honking and dancing on music after 8:00 pm near their homes (they wake up in the mornings when our new generation goes to sleep) and Rs. 10,000 on taking and posting pictures of locals (specially women) online. I know most of the women there don't want to pose as models on the internet.

 

[El Sidd]

1000 will keep most of the poor population away. We don't have to stop common poor Pakistanis from visiting their own country.

Fines could start from Rs. 1,000 and could go to 10,000.

Rs. 1000 per incident of throwing garbage not in the bins, 5000 for honking and dancing on music after 8:00 pm near their homes (they wake up in the mornings when our new generation goes to sleep) and Rs. 10,000 on taking and posting pictures of locals (specially women) online. I know most of the women there don't want to pose as models on the internet.

Who will stop the memes of that woman from Karachi?

Stop selling schemes to make the police rich off poor's fortune.